License Plate LED Bulb Comparison

I know some of this is covered in Infinite Reality's LED Thread, but I thought I would post a quick review/results of a few license plate LED bulbs that I purchased from local retailers.

The three bulbs I tried:
1) Jam Strait LED -Purchased from O'reilly's Auto for $19.99 per pair
2) Sylvania ZEVO LED - Purchased from Auto Zone for $12.99 each
3) Pilot LED - Purchased from Walmart for $9.99 per pair

The Sylvania ZEVO is the only one that lists a wattage on the package (1 watt). I expected the Pilot to be the brightest because it uses five LEDs, but it is about 1/10th of an inch too long to fit into the license plate bulb housing. The Jam Strait bulb used four LEDs and does fit into the housing, but it's barely any brighter than the stock incandescent bulb; it's definitely a much cooler color temperature, but just not much brighter. Despite the fact that the Sylvania only uses a single LED, it's by far the brightest of these three.

I'll try to take some comparison photos tonight.

Thanks for this. I'm interested to see what you come up with.


I bought an Ebay pack of like 20 bulbs that look like the Pilot's you have. They don't last long, maybe a few months, and then they die out, but 20 were like 2 bucks so I just swap them out when they die. Not a ton brighter than stock, but much better color.

Not surprised! Everything about the Sylvania/OSRAM bulb and packaging seems much better in terms of quality and they have a pretty good reputation, at least in my book, so I guess time will tell.

I had to relocate the rear license plate because of the nFab Rear Runner I have installed. As a result the factory license plate lamps no longer illuminate the license plate. To remedy this I bought a LED license plate lamp from Auto ZOne that has a string of LEDs and mounts to the license plate via the two lower mounting holes. It does a very good job illuminating the plate, is really quite bright, and has a lifespan of at least 3 years. Not expensive, either.

Thanks for the info. I might stop by the store and try the Sylvania bulbs.

Here's a night photo comparison; it's just an iPhone photo, but I think it's actually a pretty good representation of what I actually see with my eyes. The bulb on the left is the Sylvania and the bulb on the right is the Jam Strait. Both bulbs are brighter than the OE incandescent, but clearly the Sylvania is quite a bit brighter and more a true white. The advertised 6000k temperature for the Sylvania seems pretty accurate while the Jam Strait is easily above 8000k.

EDIT: Upon looking at the photo again, it's not a good representation of what I see with my eyes, but it's still a good example of the difference in light intensity between the two bulbs.

i left those lights oem. no need to help the cop get a better look at your plate.......

My thoughts as well Noah.

The Car Stereo Company said:

i left those lights oem. no need to help the cop get a better look at your plate.......

Click to expand...

Agreed. There are some things that you don't want to advertise.


Cliff

I used the Sylvania's for the license plate lights on my 2012 and the wife's 2014 Enclave...much improvement over the stock lights.


.....and the law dogs have spotlights to light up your plates guys, keep your stock lights, it won't matter. If they want to see your plate, they will get it